


Sometimes Christmas isn't the Most Wonderful Time of The Year

by ImmediatelyWriting



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Hospital, Alternate Universe - Medical, Angst, Brain Damage, Can be read any day really, Caring, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Christmas Special, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Free! Dive to the Future, Free! Eternal Summer, Friendship, Haruka Nanase Needs a Hug, Hot Chocolate, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Makoto Tachibana Needs a Hug, Medical Conditions, Medical Trauma, Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto Fluff, No Spoilers, One Shot, POV Tachibana Makoto, PVS, PVS patient Haruka Nanase, Romance, Sad, Short, Short One Shot, Sickfic, Unprofessional Caretaker Makoto Tachibana, Wholesome, not canon, vegetative state
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28241625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmediatelyWriting/pseuds/ImmediatelyWriting
Summary: Another Christmas has arrived.And this year it'll be different from any other Christmas... everything has become different after Haruka slipped into a vegetative state last year.Sometimes Christmas isn't the most wonderful time of the year; especially when your best friend is stuck in total unawareness.But that doesn't mean Makoto will do anything to make his special Christmas with Haruka a celebration of their close friendship!(Makoto's POV)
Relationships: Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Sometimes Christmas isn't the Most Wonderful Time of The Year

**Author's Note:**

> Hey There!
> 
> Merry Christmas!  
> Before you start, let me just give one quick disclamer - I'll stay with one only because it's Christmas;  
> be aware that this is not your usual fluffy romance Christmas special, so there will be no mercy on your heart!  
> (Just joking, I wrote this so there will always be some fluff and wholesomeness)
> 
> Love, Noa <3

Christmas morning feels like any other, really.

I wake up with a fuzzy mind, like everything is filled with clouds, and I feel like I’m still in a dream. Whatever nice dream I was having will be forgotten in no time, but I still have that awesome feeling in my veins when I’ve just woken up.

The same goes for today, even though I’d normally feel totally different on a Christmas morning. Previous years I would sit upright and realize what a wonderful day Christmas was going to be; I’d spend the morning playing with my siblings and by afternoon I’d often go to Haruka to wish him a Merry Christmas too; not this year though.

I smack my alarm clock and rub in my eyes, forcing myself to come back to reality.

There’s not much time for myself, I only have ten minutes to put on some decent clothes and maybe down half a cup of coffee before Haruka’s morning routine starts.

_Ten minutes_ , I think to myself as I drag myself from my bed to the bathroom.

I splash some water in my face and, without even drying off, I put on a sweater. I grab the comb and brush my hair while on my way to the kitchen, where I not only make myself I cup of coffee, but I also gather all of Haruka’s medication in a little plastic box.

And then, by the time I’ve taken three sips of my bitter coffee, the ten minutes have already passed; it’s time for my day to actually come to a start.

I take the box of meds and stroll to the other room; Haruka’s room.

The doors are still closed, because I never open them before I go in to wake up my best friend.

I knock on the door, saying, “I’m coming in.” I pause, because on special days like today it’s even harder to open the door, to let reality hit me all over again. “Okay?”

Sliding the door open is like opening another dimension, one that isn’t the same from the one I grew up in. In the dimension that hides behind the door, Haruka isn’t a swimmer anymore, he doesn’t live on his own and he will never go to college.

And me? I take care of my best friend in this life.

I have my eyes closed when I open the door, because I want to spend a little longer in the fantasy world where I’ll just be spending Christmas morning doing fun things with my friends and family.

Open them, because I have to, and when I do I swallow away the lump that is blocking my throat.

“Merry Christmas, Haruka,” I say, but my voice will never be heard by Haruka.

Haruka’s blue eyes are glaring at me, or right through me if you’d ask me, but they’re not as bright as they used to be. They’re dull and lifeless; there’s no personality behind them anymore.

I look into them, try to make him register that I’m here beside him.

He doesn’t see me though, he doesn’t know I’m here. So he just rolls his eyes back like he does for no real reason, or that’s what the doctors say; but I’m convinced he rolls them at me because I call him Haruka. That is because he almost never rolls his eyes at anyone else, or so I think, not many people have visited him since the accident one year ago.

“I see you’re awake already?” I ask, wandering to the other side of the room the raise the curtains and let in some light. When I look out of the window I see a light dust of snow covering the streets with a layer or glistening white. “Oh,” I mumble, trying to sound enthusiastic while I’d rather would’ve had a Christmas without snow this year. “It has snowed, how beautiful. Don’t you think?”

I turn back to Haruka, he’s not even looking in my direction; instead he’s drooling an excessive amount while glaring at the wall across him.

I chuckle; Haruka never liked the cold anyway so why would he get enthusiastic about snow right now. He’d always get all pale, with a red nose and cheeks, when we’d go outside to play with the snow in the winter and afterwards mom would always make the both of us a hot cup of chocolate milk. I smile, because she had even given both of us one of her cups of hot milk last year.

Last year he stayed over for two nights, because his parents weren’t home for Christmas and when he got cold during the first night I remember thinking about wanting to share a blanket with him.

Little did I know that that would be the last time I’d spend my Christmas with the Haruka I’d grown up with; a couple of months later, his heart stopped for ten whole minutes.

My smile falters when I look at Haruka now; even if I wanted I couldn’t drink hot chocolate milk with my best friend, and snuggling under one blanket wouldn’t even be fun when both of us would get all tangled up in his tubes and threats.

“So,” I whisper as I walk back to Haruka’s bed, because there’s a lot left to do. “Now there are some things we have to do, as usual, but I have a couple of surprises for you after that.”

I actually went out and bought him something; not that he’ll be aware that I’ve done that for him, but I needed to have something for him to make Christmas a little special this year.

Just like every morning, I give Haruka’s muscles a workout before giving him a bed bath and giving him his first batch of medication and feeding him through his G-tube like the doctors have taught me. Once I’ve also cleaned the inner cannula of his tracheotomy, Haruka’s morning routine is done.

This means I can quickly eat something before returning to his room with a movie.

I watch movies with Haruka all the time, because it’s one of the only things we can do together without me feeling like everything has changed the way it has; a snowy Christmas morning like this is perfect for a romantic Christmas movie.

“I chose Love Actually.” I wave the disk with DVD in the air cheerfully and add, “I know, we’ve seen that one a million times already, but it’s the best Christmas movie out there.”

I know Haruka won’t mind, it’s not like he’ll even notice that there’s a movie playing, but I know that if he really were here he would at least make one comment about how he’s watched this one with me every single year; he is right, we have been watching this every year from when I was eight.

As soon as the opening scene starts playing, I close the curtains and curl up in a blanket on my comfy chair next to Haruka’s bed. And, like every time we watch a movie now, I take Haruka’s hand in mine and stroke the back of it with my thumb; my personal way of including Haruka in this activity.

By the time the credits start rolling, tears are rolling down my cheeks as well.

Not because the movie is so sad, not at all, but because for the entire movie I was thinking back to all those ten times I’ve watched it with Haruka; how this time was completely different, yet the same.

I look at Haruka through my tears and let out a sob; he glares at me like he knows I’m feeling down, it’s just my imagination and in reality he’s not even able to check on me when I feel sad.

“I-I’m okay,” I whisper and quickly use my free hand to wipe away my tears.

I carefully let go of Haruka’s hand and take it up to his face to give his cheek a stroke; as if reassuring him that I am in fact okay and there is no need to worry about me anymore.

“You know,” I continue, when I feel how dry Haruka’s skin is. “I think you can use some crème.”

I get up and walk to the cabinets on the other side of the room, feeling a little guilty about being relieved to turn my back to Haruka for a second. I get the jar of greasy crème and take a deep breath before walking back to Haruka’s bed.

“I was thinking,” I tell Haruka while scooping out some crème and carefully smearing it onto his hands, cheeks and nose. “It has stopped snowing, so maybe we can go out for a walk after all.”

I’m a little hesitant myself, because going out for a walk when it’s this cold outside means I’ll have to really get him into a vest and a coat, maybe even get out a blanket or two and not to forget a scarf and mittens so he doesn’t get cold. Prepping for the stroll would take longer than the walk itself.

“Would you like that?” I ask Haruka, but I’m also really asking myself. “Get some fresh air, take a stroll through the park or maybe we can go to one of the small Christmas markets?”

I smile, I actually feels like doing something else than any other day today. “We can do that.”

Haruka appears to be content with my plans too, giving me a soft grunt instead of an eye roll.

I spend the next twenty minutes lifting Haruka into his wheelchair and getting him all dressed up, but when I finally drape a nice warm blanket over his legs I feel kind of proud of myself; this will be the first time I’ll take Haruka out for something other than a short stroll around the house.

“Ready?” I whisper in his ear before using my sleeve to wipe away some saliva. “You look ready.”

After that I open the front door and take him into the cold winter air.

As we make our way to one of the less crowded Christmas markets in town, I listen to the snow crunching underneath my shoes and the tires of Haruka’s wheelchair. It’s a calming sound, together with the chattering of parents and playing children in the distance.

“I can see the fairy lights already,” I tell Haruka when we’ve almost reached the market. “They’re stunning! Don’t you think so too?” It is gorgeous, all of those lights gathered above little booths.

I walk past most of the booths, sometimes taking a stop to look at one of the tiny sculptures.

There’s a lot of things you could gift to someone, but I’m glad I see nothing that suits Haruka better than the tiny present I have lying at home for him.

Once we’ve seen everything from little wooden elves to glass hearts for in a Christmas tree, we reach the only booth that actually catches my attention. It’s a small low-budget booth owned by a woman and two young boys. They’re selling their hot chocolate milk with cream for way too much money, but I want to buy a cup of the elementary school kids so badly; it reminds me of the one winter mom took Haruka and me to one of these markets to sell cookies and hot milk for too much money.

Just like these kids, we had put up a sign that said the product, price and underneath that the money would go to an unknown good cause; in Haruka and mine case that was a sick stray kitten we wanted to take to the vet, for these kids it could be anything from money for a school trip to buying a toy.

“I can use some hot chocolate milk,” I tell Haruka while kneeling down in front of him to see if he hasn’t gotten too cold yet. His nose is a little pink and his cheeks are flustered, but other than that he looks warm underneath all of those scarves and blankets.

I think he wouldn’t get much colder if I’d get myself something hot to drink from that booth, maybe he can even get a sniff of the familiar chocolate smell if I buy myself a cup.

I readjust Haruka’s knitted hat and after that I take him with me when I go to the booth.

One of the boys has already spotted me before the woman has, and of course he’s staring at Haruka. Everyone on the streets seems to be unable to walk past us without glaring at Haruka.

“Mommy, there’s another customer,” the oldest-looking boy says when he also spots me and Haruka standing in front of the booth. As soon as the woman hears her son, she turns around to us.

I swallow when I recognize her. She Miss Sato from a few streets down; mom would always babysit her oldest son when Ren and Ran were just toddlers. And she seems to recognize me too.

“You’re the Tachibana’s oldest son,” Miss Sato says, not taking her eyes off me to look at Haruka even once. “Makoto Tachibana, am I right?”

I nod, feeling really uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“You’ve really grown up a lot.” Miss Sato turns to her oldest son, who’s about Ren and Ran’s age, and asks, “Do you remember Makoto?”

The young boy, whose name I remember to be Issey, glares up at me but soon gets distracted by Haruka’s gaze. He eventually shakes his head and clings to his mom like his younger brother has already been doing the entire time.

“It has been a while.” Miss Sato tousles her kid’s hair and turns back to me. “So, how have you been doing? I see you’re celebrating Christmas with—“ Her voice falters when she looks at Haruka for the first time, as if she didn’t even notice him being with me before now. “Oh… is that the Nanase’s kid?”

“Yeah,” I mumble, glancing down at Haruka and patting his shoulder with my gloved hand.

Her expression gets softer, sadder when looking back up at me; as if she’s not even sorry for Haruka, but she’s literally only here to pity me. If that’s the case, I don’t feel like taking this conversation to a next level; I’ve had enough empathy from people, all I want now is hot chocolate milk.

“Anyway, it is really cold,” I say, playing with the loose threads of Haruka’s warm scarf. “So can I maybe have one chocolate milk with cream, please?”

Miss Sato looks in a daze until Issey pulls on her sleeve and orders her back to reality.

“Oh, yeah,” she stammers, turning around to scoop some hot chocolate milk from a big pan into a small carton cup. “Two cocoa milk with whipped cream, is that all?”

“Just one,” I correct her before she can fill the second cup.

I turn to the young boys while their mother is acting all strange and awkward and, to keep myself from getting annoyed with Miss Sato, I ask, “So, can I know what your special good cause is?”

Issey’s younger sibling, who’s been shy and silent all this time, immediately stands up with a deep pride gleaming on his face when he says, “Yep! Sir, our mommy has a little sister in her belly!”

Issey nods and adds, “We’re gathering money so we buy her all the special things she needs.”

“Wow,” I whisper, a smile appearing on my face. “That is a beautiful goal, I will support that.”

With that I press some money into Issey’s little hand, giving him double of what I should’ve paid.

While Miss Sato hands me my cup of hot chocolate milk, Issey looks at the money in his hand and notices that I paid way too much. “B-but sir, this is—“ His voice falters and he looks a little scared when Haruka lets out a little moan; almost as if telling the kid to just keep the money.

I chuckle, lightly squeezing Haruka in his shoulder before whispering, “You tell them, Haruka.” Before looking back up at Miss Sato’s boys and adding, “You can keep the money, our little present. Promise me to buy something beautiful for your baby sister, okay?”

The boys both nod happily, even though their mother looks a little confused.

I wrap one of my hands around my cup of hot chocolate milk and, with the other hand, I roll Haruka to a nice bench a little further than the booth. Here I sit down next to Haruka’s wheelchair and inhale the warm steam coming off my hot milk.

“Smells delicious,” I reassure Haruka when I catch him gazing in my direction.

I sit there, drinking my hot chocolate milk in peace while talking to Haruka. It’s calming and it feels nice to just talk to Haruka and imagine us having a real conversation. It’s so comfortable, I’m actually a little sad when I take the last sip of my hot milk, because that means we’ll have to go back home.

Fortunately we reach home before Haruka’s hypothermic, but when I’m taking off his scarf I do feel that his cheeks are the temperature of ice cubes.

“Hmm, you’ve really gotten cold, haven’t you?” I ask him while draping his scarf and the multiple blankets over the heater. “But I think I have something nice against the cold, just wait and see.”

I get Haruka back to his room and use the lift to get him from his wheelchair back into his bed. Once he’s carefully tucked under his warm blanket and his head pillow has been stuck nicely underneath his head, I wander to the bathroom to get him a nice, wet, lukewarm towel.

I clean his cold face and hands with the lukewarm towel before rubbing some fresh crème onto his skin again. After that, it’s time for me to get the present I bought for him.

“I have a little something for you.” I smile when I get back and sit down beside him.

Carefully, I lay the present down on top of his blankets, in his lap. After doing that I wrap my hand around Haruka’s and bring his cold fingers close enough that they’re touching the present.

“It’s a box, with something in it,” I tell him in my most cheerful tone. “You feel that?”

His fingers move past the red packing paper I used and I like to imagine that he is now thinking deeply about what could possibly be in that little box. Trying to guess what I got him this year.

I let him touch the present for a short while, hoping and wishing to see the muscles in his hand contract in an attempt to open it up; yet again, my wish doesn’t get granted.

After a minute or two, I lean closer to him and whisper, “Shall I help you unpack it?”

He lets out an unmeaningful moan, but I take it for a “yes” and carefully unwrap the little box. Inside of a plastic package there’s a little keychain. It’s the shape of a dolphin, which is Haruka’s favorite sea creature, but that isn’t why I bought it; the colored part of the keychain almost looks like a starry sky, and one little mistake in the paintjob causes one of the “stars” to be bigger than the others.

“A shooting star,” I whisper while letting the top of Haruka’s stroke the white trail the biggest star as left behind on the blue background. “So, what will be your wish, Haruka?”

Almost as if he heard me, Haruka closes his eyes like he’s concentrating to make a wish.

I close my eyes too, knowing what I would wish for if that was my shooting star.

When I open them again, I let out a sad giggle; Haruka’s already gone back to sleep. He’s had a long and tiring day, which means he’ll probably be out for the next couple of hours.

I get up and clench the keychain in my hands before hanging it from the edge of a picture frame on Haruka’s bedside table. It’s nothing big, and I know he won’t use it, but I came across it when going for a stroll during his weekly checkup at the hospital.

I had to buy it because it told me that even when not everything is flawless, it can still be wonderful; like this Christmas, like our friendship and lives… like Haruka.

I had to buy it for him, as a lucky charm.

Maybe with this hanging beside his bed, he might wake up again one day; a day or a week, maybe even years, from now he may look _at_ me with those stunning eyes of his.

_To be Continued!  
(In “Sometimes Death Isn’t Even The Worst That Can Possibly Happen”)_

**Author's Note:**

> Hey There!
> 
> So! So! So!  
> You got all the way through that?  
> I hope you liked it! 
> 
> And if you did; this is actually the concept of a bigger MakoHaru fanfiction I finished writing a while ago.   
> It's name is "Sometimes Death isn't even the Worst that Can Possibly Happen" and I enjoyed writing that so much more than anything I've written before, and the people that read it seemed to like it a lot too, so I took the same concept, same characters and even the same world... and well, let's just say that if you want to know if Makoto's wishes will be enough to ever wake up Haruka again; you may enjoy reading the original fanfiction this was based on ;)
> 
> And if you read this one, or go on to read the original one, let me know in the comments! I'd love to know your oppinions ^.^  
> Now, go have a nice Christmas with your family and don't forget to call your friends to wish them a Merry Christmas too! 
> 
> Love, Noa <3


End file.
